


Latent Patterns

by ontdre



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-24
Updated: 2014-06-24
Packaged: 2018-02-05 23:54:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1836769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ontdre/pseuds/ontdre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern day--the world knows of the existence of demigods and are aware of the monsters that come with them. Some call these demigods a curse--evil; some consider them blessings--heroes. But others... others have ulterior motives with them, overall.</p><p>A superhero <i>Percy Jackson and the Olympians</i> and <i>Heroes of Olympus</i> Alternate Universe fanfiction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Latent Patterns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally decided to sit down and write a full-on serious (hA!) fic, and, naturally, it had to be PJO-related. Hopefully I won't do too bad!
> 
> Tags will be updated as the fic goes on. New chapters will, hopefully, be posted weekly.

           Two people roughly the same height--faces covered --stood looking down at a bed in which a person lay on and appeared to be asleep. One of the two standing, a girl, leaned down closer to the body and shook him. He didn’t react or complain or groan or wake; in fact, he did nothing at all. The girl straightened up.

           “You think he’s alive?” she asked.

           “Well, he’s breathing, so, yes--but _we’re_ as good as dead. We’re gonna be in _so_ much trouble.”

           “And when’s that ever stopped you before?” She gave him a few seconds to reply. Nothing came. “Thought so. Now, quit your whining, grab his arm and help me out.”

           “ _Fine._ ” He stepped forward and did as she told him, grabbing one of the unconscious boy’s arms and throwing it over his shoulders. Together they helped him to his feet, or tried, in any case. He was a few feet taller than both of them and twice their weight, so the most they could do was drag him. “ _Jesús en el cielo_ 1, why is he so heavy?!”

           “ _Shh!_ You’re being too loud,” the female said, trying to keep her voice low. “Last thing we need is employees spotting us.” The other let out a hushed laugh. “Employees”, he mocked. “Forget about the guards or cops. Let’s worry about the employees.”As if right on cue, the lights dimmed out and an alarm began blaring outside in the hallway. They both turned to look at each other, both of them with a look of horror plastered across their faces.

           “Wasn’t me,” he quickly argued.

           “We need to go, _now_.”

          They took a few steps closer to the door they had come in through, and the girl leaned out to check the hallway. “Emergency lights are on. Other than that, it seems to be clear,” she called out over the loud alarm. “Come on.” She stepped out into the hallway with her partner and Unconscious Joe—the name she had decided on giving their swoony buddy until this was over—on her left. With little room for thought, they decided to leave the way they had come through, the right, dragging Joewith them as fast as their strength allowed them to.

           “This would be a _lot_ easier if he were lighter, or _awake_. Imagine him _actually_ being _awake_ ,” the boy complained. For one reason or the other, he then nudged Joe’s head and bumped his hip with him, probably to wake him up; of course, it only made his partner stumble. Still, he continued.

           “Leo, god damn it, stop that!” she said, readjusting Joe’s arm over her shoulders. “This isn’t a joke.”

           “I thought we agreed on _no names, Pi-per._ ” Leo grinned at her under his mask as she beamed at him with her multicolored--and pretty intimidating--eyes. But the fun and games (and jokes) were short-lived, for, as they took their time to argue, wasting precious _valuable_ seconds, they gave guards ample time to slide around the corner, weapons at the ready. Big, big weapons—pointed right at _them_. Piper and Leo brought their jog to an abrupt stop, almost falling over with Joe as they did, both of them uttering some curses under their breaths as they tried thinking of what to do next.

           “Drop the boy,” one of the guards said. “And we’ll let you walk out of this unharmed.”

           “Liar,” Piper spat. “You don’t mean that.” And she knew this for sure. She had a—well, let’s call it a talent for reading people, and she could read this guard like a toddler’s book.

           “Don’t try to be smart, kid.”

           “I don’t try—” She then took all of Joe’s weight onto herself as Leo let go of him, spreading her legs slightly to keep them both standing. “--Light ‘em up!”

           “On it!”

          The fire came from both sides but in different ways--gunfire came at them from the guards’ side as bullets left the guns’ chambers, rushing forward to take their lives; on Leo’s side, it came as actual fire, aimed at the weapons that the guards were so eager to use to kill them. Leo first took out the bullets, which disintegrated into thin air once the fire touched them, and then came the weapons, which he shot out of the guards’ hands by throwing spheres of fire their way—no one got hurt, though. The guards took a few steps back, which made Leo grin cheekily--though it wasn’t exactly visible through the mask--and hold out his hands as fire formed in them. “Sorry, _amigos_ 2, but I really wanna make it through the night.” Not a second passed when Leo aimed his fireballs at the ceiling, making it collapse in front of them and form a new wall of concrete obstructions between them and the guards.

           “Time to go.”

          And go they did as they ran back the hallway, alarms blaring, emergency lights flashing, but guards rounded every corner; escape was becoming more and more of a concept than a reality with each new turn taken. More encounters with guards came along, but these other times they didn’t bother stopping to say hi, even if a few times some tried to grab them and pull them back. But they ran and kept running, like they had a whole security force running after them—which they did. They finally went into a room to hide in—a sort of lab, apparently—and sat at the farthest corner away from the door after blocking it.

            “T-Trapped like cattle…”

           “Wha— W-What about the _vents_?” Leo panted as he let go of Joe.

           “ _What?_ ”

           “We’d fit just fine through ‘em, _plus_ —” He pointed just above Piper’s head. “—There’s one right here.” Leo seemed so proud of himself and his discovery, it almost hurt Piper to burst his bubble with questions—almost.

           “All right, _great_ plan, very clever, even, except for, oh, you know, one major thing— _where_ would it take us? _How_ would we know where to go?” she asked between ragged breaths.

           “Oh, well…” Leo looked at the vent again, the cogs in his head spinning faster as he tried finding an answer to her questions. Finally, he snapped his fingers. “Got it— The vents all lead somewhere, Pipes, usually a _machine_.”

          “Machine…?” It was then that Piper’s eyes opened wide as it all clicked in her brain—a _machine_ , something Leo could easily track down with the right amount of concentration, and if they found the machine, they’d probably find a maintenance room—hopefully one with an exit. “You’re a _genius_!” She reached out to hug him but stopped quickly when she remembered the reason they’d come here, the one that she’d forgotten entirely. “Um…” She looked to her side to find Joe hunched over in a noticeably uncomfortable angle, still unconscious, of course. “What about Joe?” she asked as she struggled to lift his torso up; her arms couldn’t carry anymore.

           “Oh…right.”

           “We have to wake him up.”

           “Yeah, that would actually be great, except for the fact that _nothing in the world seems to wake him up_.” This last bit he yelled into Joe’s ear as he had leaned closer to him. Naturally, Leo received no reaction from him. “ _Cristo amado_ 3, what have I done to deserve _this?_ ” He pointed at Joe most frustratingly. They’d been running around with him on their shoulders; they’d been shot at; the alarm had only gotten louder, and yet none of those things had woken him up. “It’s hopeless. If we can’t get him out of here, then this would’ve all been for nothing…”

           “Well…I could try one thing,” Piper said, slightly turning her head to look at him. It seemed ridiculous to her how calm he seemed—no lines on his face that indicated tension, no uneven breaths that revealed any sort of anxiety--unlike Leo and her stressing over everything. He had no worries, no problems at all, or at least she imagined he believed this. She envied his forced ignorance.

          Leo made a face at her. “Please don’t tell me you’re gonna _kiss_ him,” he said. “You don’t know where those lips have been. “ He made a gagging sound at the thought, causing Piper to roll her eyes.

          “Don’t be stupid, I’m not gonna _kiss_ him.” She turned again to Joe and grabbed his face with her hands. Slowly, she leaned closer to him and closer, until her lips were by his right ear. Putting all the strength she could into her words, Piper spoke to him. “ _Wake up_ ,” she said almost melodically. Nothing happened, but she stop there. Again, she spoke, this time stronger than before, pouring all the will she could into the words she spoke, hoping that it would be enough. “ _Wake up!_ ”

          Sparks then started flying and ran across the room and into the ceiling, killing the emergency lights in the room and causing both Piper and Leo to jump on the spot. Glass exploded around them, drowning out the sound of the alarm outside, and they both huddled up together and away from the boy they’d tried to awaken. Confusion and panic coursed through their bodies as the room itself felt like containment for a storm—a storm in which they stood in the eye of. Piper nervously traced back the sparks to its source with her eyes, leading her back to where she’d sat before. And there _he_ sat, sparks still flying out of him, providing the only light in the entire room. But light wasn’t needed to see what was already obvious—they could tell by the surge of power coming out of him and the way he trembled as it did, but most of all, his eyes surged with more electricity than any blast of energy could at that moment—terrifyingly as clear as day.

          He was awake.

          Their _Joe_ was awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translated Spanish phrases and/or sentences:  
> 1 -- Jesus in Heaven  
> 2 -- Friends  
> 3 -- Dear Christ
> 
> ____  
> Many thanks to my two beta readers! Bless your souls for putting up with me~<3


End file.
